Key West was all decked out in her nautical finest for the annual Race Week Regatta when we arrived there last Friday. Boats of all different classes, accompanied by sailors of all different nationalities and tongues, clogged the downtown marinas. We docked at the aging Oceanside Marina on adjacent Stock Island as all the slots in Key West were filled early by the international sailing crews.
Cousins Jim and Sandra Smith arrived Sunday afternoon, came aboard, stowed their gear, listened to the safety spiel and were ready for the adventure. Weather reports for the next two days were for moderately high winds and 4 to 5 foot seas -- an uncomfortable combination for any mariner. We did the smart thing and postponed our little cruise in favor of shore excursions til the weather gods smiled again. That night we drove into the thick of the mischief that is Key West and took a stroll through the neighborhood. We saw it all -- cats and fiery hoops, musicians and artists, roosters and dogs, the ridiculous and the sublime. For dinner, the Smiths chose the upscale Bagatelle Restaurant to treat us as it was our 29th anniversary. Imagine that! DInner was delish, with seafood for all, but the waiter -- oh, my! Clifford apparently took a shine to us and between serving courses would drop by to tell a joke. As the dinner progressed the jokes became more and more risqué, until, as they say, the sailors blushed. Shame on you, Clifford!
The next day the four of us did the tourist thing well and were glad that we did. We admired the gardens of West Martello Tower - an old fort built for use during the civil war but never operational that now houses a garden filled with a broad collection of native plants. Hemingway House was next and we had a very entertaining guide -- we were told not to sit on the cats, of which there are currently 47! Time to re-read all those fabulous novels, too. I've got Islands in the Stream on my Kindle right now, in fact.
Next, a super long walk in search of the perfect off-the-beaten-track spot for lunch that turned out to only be open for dinner, then the Mel Fisher Museum. Mel was a man with a dream! Twenty years of searching for the treasure mother lode left by the Spanish ship Atocha that went down in the Florida Straits in the 1500's. Mel and his crew persevered, brought up small amounts of gold and silver artifacts for years and then, at last, hit it big. The museum tells the story well and the vastness of the riches reclaimed from the sea is astounding.
Calmer winds showcased a beautiful sunrise the next morning and we prepared to set our course south towards the Marquesas. Jim showed great promise and enthusiasm for the boating life and he quickly became the newest Seaman First Class. As cocks'n of the Dartmouth crew in his day, he was most likely more accustomed to giving rather than receiving orders, but he and Captain Bill developed a nice routine and I soon became another redundancy on Let's Dance. Oh well! Girl Time. Yeah!
Four hours after leaving Key West we arrived at the tiny island of Boca Grande. Bill and Jim worked well together on the anchor drill and looked great in the headsets to boot!
We launched the Love Me Tender, (again, my role usurped by Jim), donned our water shoes and life jackets and headed to shore for some exploration. The beach was narrow and did not provide much in the way of shells, but it was a fun little outing. DInner back aboard, another red-hued sunset, another perfect day complete.
We had a wonderful time with the Smiths and all agreed that cousins are the best! We did a quick bump and run back at the Oceanside Marina dock where they had left their car then got back underway for the next leg of our winter sojourn. Our route took us back north to Rodriquez Key (scene of the freak wind action) and then to Angel Fish Creek, just at the northern tip of Key Largo. From there we made the 57 mile crossing to Cat Cay in the near Bahamas. Our third crossing in Let's Dance was as well planned and executed as the previous two. Captain Bill even had the arrival music cued up! We entered Bahamian waters to the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"
Everybody dance!!
Let's Dance.....Carol and Bill
